Archon
The archon is a protoss heavy assault warrior formed by merging two high templar.Underwood, Peter, Bill Roper, Chris Metzen and Jeffrey Vaughn. StarCraft (Manual). Irvine, Calif.: Blizzard Entertainment, 1998. Overview The first archon(s) were created unexpectedly and their formation was soon legally sanctioned by Khala.Bill Slavicsek, David Eckelberry, Shawn F. Carnes. Alternity: StarCraft Edition. Wizards of the Coast, March 1, 2000. ISBN 0-7869-1618-4. The creation of an archon is a serious affair for it requires the reluctant sacrifice of valuable high templar for a short-term gain.Golden, Christie (November 27, 2007). StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga #2: Shadow Hunters. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 0-7434-7126-1. Archons radiate energy like stars and burn out when depleted. The merging results in the abandonment of the physical form and the loss of self, but those who do so are bequeathed great honor and a place in the templar archives. The loss of most of the psionic powers of the two merging templar is more than compensated for by the archon's formidable psychic gestalt. Archons can independently erect a resilient shield and direct psionic shockwaves. Emotionally, archons are manifestations of pure rage,Archon. StarCraft Compendium. Accessed on 2008-02-12 though this may be "twisted" should the merging be in error.StarCraft: Insurrection. Aztech New Media. Protss campaign, mission 9: “Syndrea's Assault” (in English). 1998. After the Brood War and the reunification of the protoss, archons can now also be created by merging dark templar with their high templar brethren.Blizzard Entertainment staff. 2010-07-24. Units: Archon Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2010-07-15. Game Unit StarCraft |airattack=30 |cooldown=20 |armor=0 |speed=5 |range=2 |sight=8 |detect= |parent= |addons= |evolvesto= |produce= |allows= |research= |ability= |structure= |hero= |campaign= |npc= |cancel= |nocat= |concatbott= }} Archons can attack both ground and air units and its attack causes minor splash damage (50% within 15 pixels, 25% within 16-30 pixels).Protoss Strategy: Archon. Battle.net StarCraft Compendium. Accessed 2010-01-19. Attacking groups of enemy air units greatly increases the efficiency of archons. Their attack is actually short ranged, and not melee. Archon attacks and splash damage bypass the defiler's Dark Swarm.Units: Defiler. Battle.net StarCraft Compendium. Accessed 2008-02-18. An archon has most of its "health" invested in its shields. This is worrying only against terrans who have the science vessel's EMP Shockwave. With such a reliance on shields, shield batteries are a great boon for heavy archon use. Archons are neither biological nor mechanical and are therefore immune to a number of abilities, such as Lockdown, Spawn Broodling, and Irradiate. They also count as hovering and do not trigger spider mines. Production Unsurprisingly archons are expensive, especially in gas. Each effectively costs 100 minerals, 300 gas, and 4 psi, the combined price of the two sacrificed high templar. The cost necessarily limits the number of archons that can be used, ensuring that lesser units like zealots remain a vital part of protoss strategy. Upgrades Quotations : See: StarCraft I Archon Quotations File:Archon_SC1_HeadAnim.gif|Archon profile File:Archon SC1 Game1.png|Archon attacking File:Archon SC1 Rend1.gif|Archon stat profile StarCraft II , 2 , or a combination thereof. |req= |hotkey=R |speed=2.8125 |accel=1000 |lataccel=46 |decel=0 |creepbonus= |creepmultiplier= |collision=1 |shield=350 |shieldregen=2 |hp=10 |hpregen= |armor=0 |gun1name=Psionic shockwave |gun1strength=25 (1 radius)Nethaera. 2010-05-06. Patch Notes - Beta Patch 11. Battle.net StarCraft II General Beta Forum. Accessed 2010-05-06. (+10 vs biological) |gun1attacks= |gun1ground=* |gun1air=* |gun1cool=Normal (1.754) |gun1range=2 |gun1upgrd=+3/+1 vs biological |gun2name= |gun2strength= |gun2attacks= |gun2ground= |gun2air= |gun2cool= |gun2range= |gun2upgrd= |addons= |evolvesto= |produce= |allows= |research= |ability= |priority=20 |killscore=1600 |makescore=0 |lostscore= |notes= |structure= |hero= |campaign= |npc= |cancel= |nocat= |concatbott= |concattop= }} Archons can now be formed by merging any combination of two high templar and/or dark templar. Against mass air units such as the mutalisk, the archon remains one of the best counters alongside the high templar's psionic storm. Archons are strong against zealots and mutalisks, and weak against thors, immortals, and ultralisks. Archons have no special abilities or energy meter. Production Upgrades Pre-Release In early builds there was only the "twilight archon". Later on the unit was replaced by the standard "archon".Zetaras Xal'Kurat. 2008-03-16. StarCraft 2 Korean and Chinese Build Summary. SC2 Blog. Accessed 2008-03-18.Zero. 2009-04-04. My Day at Blizzard. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2009-05-18. Known Archons *Aedus/Xerxes (took part in the Brontes IV campaign) *Mertick the Mauler (extraordinarily powerful mercenary) *Nannoth/Taeradun *Tassadar/Zeratul (non-canon) References/External Links